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Strong Quake Hits Taiwan

Fires, Collapsed Homes Reported

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Almost a month to the day after an earthquake killed 2,300 people on Taiwan, another strong temblor jolted southern Taiwan early Friday.

It shook buildings, collapsed several homes and triggered a fire near the epicenter, seismologists and local media reported.

Early news media reports indicated at least 38 people were injured.

Friday's quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4, was centered 1 1/2 miles north of the city of Chiayi, about 180 miles south of Taipei, the Central Weather Bureau said. Several aftershocks followed.

The bureau said that the main quake was unrelated to the 7.6-magnitude temblor that struck central Taiwan on Sept. 21 and killed more than 2,300 people.

State-run radio said several houses collapsed and about 15 gas leaks and two small fires were reported.

Bottles of chemicals fell in a lab at Chungcheng University in Chiayi and started a fire. The university and several other schools evacuated students, the report said.

Earthquake magnitude is a measure of the total energy released by an earthquake, as indicated by ground motion recorded on seismographs. An increase of one digit in the scale represents a tenfold increase in the strength of the quake. A quake with a magnitude of 6 can cause severe damage in a populated area.